24 Hours of Le Mans: Toyota and Ferrari protagonists after two hours

A 24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 full of twists and turns right from the start, with the 61 participating cars finishing the first three laps in an “extra formation lap” – following the Safety Car at reduced speed – due to the rain. The wet asphalt in the first minutes, with reduced grip, caused various pitfalls for the drivers, with many contacts and off-track “excursions” already during the first lap. The car number 17 of the Lmp2 class is missing from the call due to the consequences of an accident in qualifying on Thursday. Toyota protagonist among the Hypercars, with Ferrari in evidence three Lmgte Pro.

LE MANS 2021: THE FIRST TWO HOURS

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Two hours before the start, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the fourth round of the World Endurance WEC, sees the two Toyota GR010 Hybrid prototypes in command, with Buemi’s number 8 Hypercars (with Nakajima and Hartley) and number 7 with Conway at the wheel (in crew with Kobayashi and Lopez) who compete for the first position also in terms of pit stops; Alpine, third; fourth and fifth the two Glickenhaus, more detached. The fight is also open both among the Lmp2 class cadet prototypes where he drives the Jota number 38 of Da Costa, followed by the G-Drive Racing of De Vries (sixth Kubica, Orlen team Wrt), and among the Gran Turismo. Among the Lmgte Pro cars, an excellent start for the Ferrari 488 Gte Evo (AF Corse): first the number 51 of Pier Guidi (with Calado and Ledogar), second in the “wake” the 52 of Serra (Molina-Bird); third Porsche number 79 at over 7 seconds. A few seconds separate the top cars in the Lmgte Am class, in order the two Aston Martin Vantages (numbers 33 and 98) with the Ferrari 488 Gte Evo number 83 third with Nielsen at the wheel.

LE MANS 2021: THE BEGINNING OF THE RACE

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As anticipated, the endurance race on the Sarthe circuit began with an increasingly clear sky, but with abundantly wet asphalt, especially in some sectors. Little adherence, therefore, which influenced the early stages. From the very first corner, when Sébastien Buemi’s Toyota GR010 Hybrid number 8 – taken second – was hit by the Hypercar Glickenhaus number 708 with Olivier Pla at the wheel, who braked wrong: no problem for the drivers and cars that can resume the race (Toyota without structural damage, Glickenhaus then forced to replace the front nose, and penalized with 10 seconds at the first pit stop), with the crew of the Japanese team, however, immediately forced to comeback. Also in the Lmgte Pro class, the first moments of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 were characterized by several twists, starting from the spin on the first lap of the Porsche 911 RSR-19 number 72, which started from pole: meanwhile in the main class of Gran Turismo Ferrari and Corvette shine in the first two hours of the race, with Porsche having greater difficulty in finding grip. Due to the same poor grip conditions due to the wet asphalt, the Alpine prototype (Hypercar) with Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel also spun – spectacular but without damage – during the fifth lap.